NewSpring, a family of private equity strategies, announced that NewSpring Franchise, the firm’s strategy dedicated to investing in innovative franchise and multi-unit concepts in large and growing markets, has completed an investment in Great Harvest, a franchise fast-casual bakery and café concept with approximately 175 locations across the U.S.

Founded in 1976, Great Harvest provides fresh baked bread, baked goods, sandwiches, salads, soup, breakfast items, and coffee and other beverages across multiple dayparts. Great Harvest will use the proceeds of this transaction to enhance franchise development, supply chain, and marketing to accelerate growth.

“Great Harvest is a leader in the bakery and café category, establishing its brand and customer value proposition with a high-quality product offering. It represents exactly the type of company we seek to apply our proven approach to building beloved, multi-unit brands,” said Patrick Sugrue, NewSpring General Partner. “Our access to top talent and experience in the franchise restaurant industry will allow Great Harvest to accelerate growth from an already strong foundation.”

“Great Harvest provides high-quality baked goods utilizing premium ingredients that our customers have come to know and love. As we’ve successfully expanded our concept to include cafés, we’ve not only enhanced the customer experience, but also broadened our offering to a wider range of consumers across multiple dayparts,” said Mike Ferretti, CEO of Great Harvest. “Partnering with NewSpring Franchise is the perfect next step, as their impressive track record of elevating and expanding franchise concepts, coupled with their deep investment and operational experience, will be critical to driving our continued success. I am eager to collaborate with Patrick Sugrue and Satya Ponnuru as new members of our Board of Directors to help guide the brand’s future expansion.”

This transaction is the fourth out of NSF II, NewSpring Franchise’s dedicated investment fund, and is consistent with the strategy’s approach to targeting capital-efficient, consumer-facing, multi-unit businesses with a strong customer value proposition, proven unit-level economics, and exceptional management teams in the lower-middle market. NewSpring Franchise has a successful track record identifying and investing in growing fast-casual restaurant concepts, including Duck Donuts, Federal Donuts and Chicken, and Shake Smart. In addition to these restaurants, the strategy’s investments include Blo Blow Dry Bar, Central Bark and Green Home Solutions.

Fast Casual, Finance, Growth, News, Great Harvest Bread Company